That's Why Lights Sparkle
by TakeOverWorld
Summary: Tori has always been plagued by lights. When she meets the Doctor she finds the lights are worse than she could have imagined.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N A Doctor Who fic.. It starts with the 10th Doctor, the changes to the 11th Doctor. I wrote the most of this more than a year ago, on my old Quizilla account. I reread it, and liked it so I wanted to continue it. I think it was originally gonna be a two parter, and if I can fit the story in to another chapter it will be, or it will be three chapter max, probably. And I'll probably finish it quick, seeing as Doctor Whos on att the mo.**

**Thanks for reading.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, the only character I own is Tori and Johnes**

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><p>She opened her eyes and took in the sights. The lights, oh all the lights mounted on top of high painted black cylinders. And the lights, shining out from the windows, shops windows, windows above shops. From the moon, reflecting light from the sun.<p>

But the lights that were brightest danced in front of her eyes. They were always there. Dancing, spinning, twirling, _mocking _her. No one believed her, when she told them about the lights.

_Ha, ha dear_. They'd laugh.

_Yes, Ingrid. It was funny the first time._

_Not _now_ Ingrid, love! Stop being so silly all the time!_

Then they started ignoring her, every time she tried. She was taken to the opticians, to the doctors to the _physiatrists_, but no more. She couldn't stand it anymore, them talking about her behind her back, no, now in front of her!

So she ran away. She tried to run away from the light, she wanted to find the darkness. But she couldn't find it. In London, the only spots of darkness are in dark alleyways, but only tramps, rapists, murders those whose lives were shrouded in darkness lurked there.

What was she then? Was she just like them, better than them? Oh who was she trying to fool?

She was Ingrid Victoria Rose Ackerman. A stupid rich girl who ran away from home. Ingrid shivered in her black long sleeved top and black skinny jeans. It was cold; the wind picked up the litter on the floor and pushed it around. But it was too bright. The lights, Ingrid wanted them gone. Hugging her knees, she leant against the back of the bench and shut her eyes. At least now, the lights were gone. Her eyelids blocked them out.

"Lights. There always seems to be some on in London. It's not as bad as in New York though. New York, the city that never sleeps." A male voice said beside her.

Ingrid's eyes snapped open, alarmed. The lights blinded her for a second, when they cleared she saw a young man with slightly messy brown hair wearing a long brown coat sitting on the bench next to her.

"Who - who the _hell _are you?" she snapped, just managing to stop herself from saying: _and what right do you have to talk to me? _It was hard enough holding back the stupid posh remarks and trying to change her posh accent, which was hard seeing as she'd had elocution lessons from a young age.

"Hello, nice to meet you, I'm the Doctor," the man stuck out his hand. Out of habit Ingrid shook it, and introduced herself.

"I'm… Tori … Acker…" Ingrid, well Tori as she preferred, introduced herself. Tori was what her best friend used to call her, and the Ackerman's were too famous. If they'd said she was missing they'd probably offer a reward and lots of people would be on the lookout.

"Tori Acker really? Chilly night, tonight. What are you doing out in the cold?"

Tori stayed silent. What had he said before? Something about lights? Did – did he know? If so who was this man _really_?

As if they could sense they were being spoken about the bright lights flickered obscuring her vision for a moment.

"Hello? Tori? You there?" The man - well the Doctor as he'd introduced himself (what did that even mean? Was he a doctor of something?) – was waving his hand in front of Tori's face. "You looked a little blank just then,"

How rude! He was insulting her! Tori stood up.

"It was nice talking to you and all, _Doctor_, but I have to go now," She turned and started walking down the street. She heard the Doctor stand up behind her.

"But you don't have any where to go, do you Ingrid Victoria Rose Ackerman? You ran away from home a couple of days ago." The Doctors tone was different, it was softer. Tori turned around.

"How do you know about that?" She exclaimed.

"Your parents have gone to the police about your disappearance and it's all over the news," the Doctor explained.

"Oh…" It made sense. "Did my parents hire you? To find me?"

"Nope," The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and stepped forward. "You should go home Ingrid. Your parents are worried."

"Of _course_ they're worried." She said sarcastically, pushing her fringe away from her face. "If they're worried it's only because it would look good for the media!"

"Ingrid, you should believe that your parents love you,"

If they loved her, they wouldn't take any chance they could to mock her would they? She wouldn't always be pushed to walk in her elder sister's shadow, would she? But she couldn't say that out loud to this stranger she'd only met a couple of minutes ago. Tori opened her mouth the say something and the lights twirled across her field of vision distracting her. The Doctor frowned seeming to be looking at the lights as well. But he wouldn't be. As she'd learnt before she was the only one who could see them.

"Ingrid, what-"

"Don't call me Ingrid!" Tori interrupted. "That's a stupid name for little fat girls with bowl cut hair styles who stuff themselves with chocolates day and night!"

The Doctor laughed, causing Tori to smile. He had a nice light laugh. The smile was quickly wiped off her face when she heard a voice shouting her name.

"Ingrid? Ingrid Ackerman?"She looked to the left. A black car stopped and Mr Peter Johnes, one of her parent's employees, stepped out. "There you are! You're parents have been so worried!" Johnes rushed over to her, and pulled her towards the car. Reluctantly she followed but just before she got in the car she looked back at the Doctor.

"Good luck, Tori!" he called waving.

_A while later_

The lights were getting worse. She'd failed her GCSE's. Those lights had been flaring up, and dancing around, seeming to mock Ingrid. _Ha, ha, Ingrid. Why do you want us gone? Look, aren't we entertaining?_ She imagined them laughing at her. Of course, her parents had been very angry. All those private tutors, on top of a brilliant school, down the drain.

But they had to keep face. So they pretended she'd done well, and put on their smiling faces for a party they had planned well before, to celebrate the 85th anniversary of Ackerman Jewels Inc. Lots of their closest acquaintances and customers were there. Even the Prime Minister of London, was there. But Ingrid didn't really care about him. He was just a posh liar.

That was part of the reason she'd slipped out, and was walking through the garden. Mostly on her own, though some guard occasionally popped his head round from the front of the house to see if any gate crashers had come.

Tori pulled a leaf out of her hair and sat down onto the damp grass, not looking forward to the prospect of being shouted at for ruining it, but not wanting to get up either. No one could see her at the moment though, so it was fine.

Then a rustle came from the bushes. Tori stiffened. She reached around for a weapon, and realized the only weapons around were twigs and leafs. Two bushes were pulled apart and a young man stepped out from in between them. He looked over at Tori and smiled.

"Hello! It's nice to see you again!"

Her eyes widened and she hastily stood up, backing away, back to the house. She didn't remember ever meeting this man. He had floppy brown hair, a mildly attractive face, and was straightening his bow tie which had gone crooked thanks to the bush.

"Who are you?" Tori asked.

The man looked confused for a second, and then he seemed to remember something.

"Oh right! You knew me before, when I looked more like this!" He spiked the front of his hair up and a memory flickered in the back of Tori's mind before another rustle came from the bushes and a young woman emerged.

"Doctor? Where is this?" She plucked a leaf from her ginger hair, and looked around, spotting Tori.

"Doctor? What – that guy from London? On the bench? With the coat?" Tori exclaimed. The Doctor laughed and clapped his hands together.

"Aha, you've got it! Tori, this is Amy Pond, Amy, this is Ingrid Victoria Rose Ackerman." He quickly introduced them, and then whipped something out from his suit pocket, which he immediately began shining at Tori, it emitted a green light and a faint whirring noise. She squinted as those lights suddenly burst up, obscuring her vision, completely for a second. All pure white, no sound just lights, just white but there was something, there was a –

Aan gh sso oon nedddearly timesssss nner nearly rihhh tu -

"-ri? Tori?"

She opened her eyes. She was lying flat on the grassy floor, with Amy and the Doctor bending over her, worry on their faces. What was that? It was like… voices… That had never happened before.

"Oh dear…" The Doctor said quietly. Tori sat up, slightly dizzy. He walked a slight distance away, muttering to himself, and tapping the sonic screwdriver against his nose.

"Are you alright?" Amy asked.

"Yeah, I dunno what that was. Wait -"

"Tori!" The Doctor spun on his heel and strode back to where Tori was standing. "You see lights, don't you? Little bright, wibbly things?" Tori could see Amy staring curiously at her, frowning slightly, but the most of her attention was on the man in front of her. He was speaking in a quite low voice, looking intently at her. How did he know about the lights? No one else had even believed about them.

"Yes," Tori replied.

He looked straight in her eyes for a couple of seconds more, almost as if he was searching for something, then turned to the house and began speaking rather animatedly.

"Ah, a party! I love parties. Haven't been to one in a while – "

"Wait Doctor? You know about the lights? What are they? Can you tell me?"

The Doctor didn't say anything for a second then –

From inside the house, someone screamed.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Urr... Might re write this at some point. Or at least end para. Still one more chapter to go. This took ages to get up, huh. Urrr... **

**Geez, why did Doctor Who have to take a break right in the middle ? That sucks.**

**Thanks to people for Alerting it, random anonomous (urr wrong spelling) person and MandaPanda89 for reviewing, and to you, for reading it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. If I did, I'd so make Amy just... well, disapear.**

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><p>The scream was short and sharp and it sounded oddly like Tori's sister, Sonja. The sound cut through her and she stopped, staring at the house oddly until she realized that the Doctor and Amy had already reached the back doors and were disappearing inside here house.<p>

Tori raced after them, heart beating fast. Was Sonja –

She was fine. She was standing near the stairs at the entrance hall when Tori found her, laughing it off, while the interested party goers trailed back into the hall. Her smile didn't reach her eyes though.

"Sone? Are you alright?" Tori asked, worry creeping into her voice.

"Yes, I'm fine." Sonja replied, rather sharply, not quite looking in Tori's direction. "I just thought… I saw something… at the window. Now, seriously, Ingrid, what have you been doing? The bottom of your dress is all muddy. You look stupid."

"Well, sorrr-ry for asking."

Their conversation finished, the older sister walked swiftly past Tori and through a southern door of the entrance hall. Tori was left frowning the ugly statue her grandparents had got them, which was currently propped up next to the staircase. Her sister was her normal sharp self… But something was off. Sonja hadn't screamed for something like ten years. Not even on rollercoaster's, or watching scary movies. She hadn't screamed since…

_It had been a normal day. School'd been alright, also tad boring, having to doing those elocution lessons with boring ol' Mr Greavers afterwards, but it was four pm now, and the rest of the day was hers. Ingrid's parents weren't even at home for now, it was just her and Sonja, and Mr Johnes was probably rattling around somewhere, meant to be looking after the sisters, but most likely reading a magazine. _

_Ingrid ran down the hall, straight to Sonja's bedroom. _

"_Soney! Let's play hide'n'seek!" Ingrid demanded, bursting into the room. Sonja dropped her pencil, huffed and rolled her eyes in the way she'd seen older girls do. _

"_Fine then," But a smile stretched the corners of her mouth anyways. They used only the bottom floor of the house, as there were plenty of exciting hiding places just in that one floor. It was Ingrid's turn to hide and she was hiding, rather unimaginatively, right under the kitchen table._

"_Twenty! Ready or not I'm coming!" Her sister's voice was quite close. Cheater! She must have been moving whilst counting. Suddenly there was a high-pitched whining noise, which filed Ingrid's ears. She clamped her hands over them. _

_CRASH!_

_Ceiling littered the floor. The kitchen table had broken, smashed to pieces on the floor by furniture from the room upstairs. Dust and debris floated in the air like smog. Ingrid looked around, wide eyed, and whimpering. She'd rolled out from under the table just in time. Something warm and wet and liquid was running down the side of her face._

_Then from the left came a loud continuous scream. Sonja stood in the doorway, dusty beige. Wide eyed, looking unfocused at something Ingrid couldn't quite catch._

That's been the last time Sonja had screamed. And since then she'd almost frozen, spending the time she wasn't _snapping_ at Ingrid (quite a lot) or times when she was at friends houses (quite a little) wrapped up in studying.

"Was that your sister? She seems nice." Amy said sarcastically, appearing next to Tori.

"Yeah…" She replied mildly distracted. Then she remembered "Wait – you can't be here! My parent's will know you and the Doctor aren't guests!"

"Oh, but we are!" The Doctor said enthusiastically. Tori jumped. Where had he come from? He waved a piece of paper in front of her face. "John Smith, Executive of Smith and Co., bought one of your parents rings to propose to my wife." She squinted at the paper. True enough, it said that.

"Wife?" exclaimed Amy, earning her a wink from the Doctor

"I thought you were-" started Tori.

"The Doctor. I am! Physic paper you see." Not that that explanation made any sense to Tori. He tucked it back inside his suit pocket.

"What – who _are_ you? The Doctor or John Smith?"

"I'm the Doctor, do everything I tell you, don't ask stupid questions, and don't wander off." The Doctor finished with a smile. The line sounded oddly nostalgic to Amy. He'd said the same thing to her when she'd first met him, back when she was seven. "Now, do you have a cellar?"

The music was very faint down here. The three of them were in the cellar, a large, slightly damp space, a solitary rack of wine standing close to the door. Apart from that, and the torch hanging in between two bottles of wine, it appeared to be empty. Light swung from the bare bulb in the ceiling, never touching upon the back wall. Not even once.

"There's nothing in here." Stated Tori, which was obviously not true, but not as much as she thought.

"Oh, I think there is." The Doctor took out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the back wall. It made that funny noise, and shone that green light – but that stopped, about a ruler's length away from the wall.

Impenetrable darkness.

The tall male strode up to the wall, fingers running across the darkness, until he pushed with his fingers, _and his hand sunk into the wall_. Quickly he withdrew it and turned back to the girls. An excited smile was rising on his face.

"What we have here, ladies, is a penetrable wall of darkness. I have no idea what's on the other side. So!"

"You want us to go through it." Amy said flatly, well used to some aspects of the Doctors thought processes.

"Correct, Pond! Come on then!" And without further ado, the Doctor spun on his heel and sauntered through the wall. Tori stared, mouth slightly agape at the spot that the Doctor'd just been in. She glanced over at Amy and she was her rolling her eyes, in a slightly annoyed, slightly humoured way.

"Guess we'd better follow."

It felt like, well, it felt like stepping through a wall of shadows. It felt dark. It felt lifeless.

It felt almost like, well, there's no point in smiling or being happy ever again. Just stand here, you deserve just that.

When Tori looked back on it, she would think how ironic it was that the lights snapped her out of it. They suddenly sprung up, dancing and distracting her from that weird depression. She blinked and looked around, past the lights.

They were in a large slightly dark room. The room was filled with tall pillars, made out of uneven rocks. All lights in the space seemed to be gathered or coming from the figure in the middle of the room.

"Rory?" Amy gasped. The Doctor stood, looking rather melancholy at the figure. The expression seemed strange on his face. Tinged with regret.

The earth seemed to be rumbling slightly, shaking from side to side. Tori looked closer at the figure.

"Soney?"

The figure turned its head just slightly. It had the appearance of Sonja, the long brunette hair, hazel eyes and the pouty mouth, it even held itself like her.

"That's not Rory, or Sonja." The Doctor whispered, out of the side of his mouth. The figure tilted its head, hair sweeping like a curtain over its shoulder as it began flickering, back and forth between the appearance of Sonja, and something else, something depressing, and really bright, if only for a second.

"No." It spoke, voice light yet somehow terrible like a knife to the heart, taking a step forward. "I suppose I'm not."

The ground suddenly started rumbling uncontrollably. Screams rang out through the air, from the upstairs hall. The three stumbled, Tori tripped, slamming against a pillar.

Even as the ground shook and shook the figure stood there, sadly majestic and upright.

"Wooah!" The Doctor slid to a pillar, and gripped onto it. "I don't think you should do that!" Of course, the figure didn't take his warning in heed. And why should it? The time… The time was just right.

"What? What's it doing?" yelled Amy, hair obscuring her face, as the ground settled down.

It made a sound akin to a laugh, and tilted it's head, once more, depressing, and bright.

"Oh, but Doctor, I think I should." Then with a voice oddly familiar to Tori, it continued on. "The time, is just right."

"The time? The time for what?" The figure didn't seem to hear Amy's questions. Or rather, didn't seem to want to answer them. Tori was still rather worried by the fact that the-the _thing_ had spoken with her voice, but didn't fail to notice when it turned its head to face her.

The Doctor's scream of 'No!' was all that managed to pull Tori away from its penetrating gaze. He had managed to scramble to his feet and was now pointing the glowing green thing at the figure in the centre of the room with a rather out of place frown on his face.

Tori wasn't sure what she was feeling. The lights… The lights had seemed to converse on the figure, almost like they were being sucked in… Almost like she was being sucked in…

"You cannot stop what is destined to come 'Doctor'." The figure was saying, even as Tori screwed her eyes shut against the pounding lights. Oh gods it hurt.

"No. But I can make sure there are no casualties. I can't let you hurt Tori." Amy said something then, probably asking what was going on, and the figure raised it's arms, pointing towards the redhead.

"NO! You are not meant to know, bearer of the news! You shall ruin it all, and ruin yourself!"

"R – ruin?" Amy frowned. Before any of them had time to react, the ground lurched again, bringing once more the sound of screams. A gash opened in the ceiling, and almost like tears clumps of plaster fell down, littering the floor.

Footsteps.

Clacking heels, to be more precise.

They were coming from the cellar.

Even the figure paused, hint of intrigue on its… face. The dark wall rippled. A stilettoed foot appeared first. Then a slim arm, then…

Sonja.

Pale face, blank expression, with her eyes half shut, like she was tired.

"SONJA GET OUT OF HERE!" The Doctor roared.

Sonja snapped alert, blinking rapidly. She hadn't heard the Doctor. Her eyes lit up slightly noticing Ingrid. "Ingrid! I saw you go to the cellar and with the sudden earthquake I was worried…"

The figure cackled, face flickering rapidly, almost like an expression of glee. "Just the one I need! I'll finish her off!"

It happened too quickly.

Tori glanced over at the Doctor, saw the look on his face, saw the look on the _things_ face, saw the thing start to raise it's arm, started forward at the same time as the Doctor –

Ferociously a stream of concentrated dark purple burst from the figures hand, hitting Sonja square in the face. Light flickering in the dark. The cackle of the figure never stopping, a hideous solo, heard by all.

It was over too soon. The stream stopped suddenly. Sonja crumpled.

"Son … ja?"

The figure cackled once more.

"Ahahaha! Finally! I've regained it! My strength! And the time! HAHAHAHA!"

No.

"AHAHAHAHA!"


End file.
